


Down Time

by Welfycat



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, Confined/Caged, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-15
Updated: 2010-10-15
Packaged: 2017-10-12 16:57:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/127044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welfycat/pseuds/Welfycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Carter finds something she didn't even know she was missing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kink Bingo October Mini Challenge; Prompt: Caged/Confined  
> Content Notes: Cages

General Landry had ordered SG-1 on stand down for the weekend after their last mission, something Sam couldn’t help but feel a little bit grateful for. She was somewhat less grateful about being banned from her lab and she was certain that Daniel felt the same way. But, at the same time, it was nice to be out of the mountain and away from the threat of alien invasion for a couple of days.

The buzz of her cell phone made Sam cringe but she couldn’t even think about not answering it. She had a responsibility to her country and the world that simply overruled the fact that she was just out of the shower and still in her robe.

“You’ve got to take her before I kill her.” Daniel’s voice filled Sam’s ear before she even had a chance to say hello.

Sam’s grinned, fully aware that Daniel couldn’t see her. “She’s not that bad, Daniel.” When Vala had been allowed to leave the mountain, as long as she was under the supervision of a member of SG-1, Sam had known that Daniel would be calling her. She just hadn’t realized it would be quite this soon. Sam walked back into her bedroom and dropped down on her bed, halfheartedly holding her cellphone up.

“She is and she is driving me nuts. All I want is to sleep and spend the day doing some reading that isn’t desperately skimming texts for something that might save our lives. Please, Sam. I would owe you one,” Daniel said. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Just for a couple of hours. I’ll pick her up for dinner.”

“Daniel! It’s only nine in the morning!” Sam exclaimed, not really wanting to spend her time off Vala-sitting any more than Daniel did, despite the fact that she and Vala got along better than most. Or, more to the point, Sam couldn’t be manipulated by Vala so Vala didn’t even bother to try.

Daniel sighed. “Fine. I’ll drop her off around one and pick her up at five? Then Cameron can take her for a while tomorrow?”

Sam glanced around her bedroom. She’d spent the previous evening getting set up for her morning alone and was somewhat disappointed to have it cut short. But, that was part of being a team, of being part of their quirky little family that was bound together by saving each others lives day in and day out. “That’ll work. Bye Daniel.”

“Thank you, Sam. You have no idea how much this means to me, ” Daniel began enthusiastically.

“Goodbye Daniel.” She said firmly, closing her cellphone without giving Daniel a chance to express his relief further.

Considering that her relaxation time now had a time limit, Sam immediately got to work, double checking that all her doors were locked and all the blinds drawn. Back in her bedroom, she paused for a moment and admired her handy work from the night before. The collapsable cage that she’d built years ago, hardly a difficult task for an astrophysicist/engineer/motorcycle mechanic, had been hauled out from its hiding place and set up at the foot of her bed.

Sam shed her robe and made sure that all the pieces were firmly locked together and that the hinges of the door swung smoothly. She placed her cellphone, fully charged, within easy reach of the cage and a second set of keys to the padlock there as well. A few years ago the keys had slipped from her grasp and had taken what felt like ages to her panicked mind, as well as some bruising and scraps, to retrieve it again. She’d known that after not showing up to work Jack and Daniel would have come looking for her, but to have them find her naked and locked up in a cage in her own home would have been embarrassing beyond belief. She’d immediately gotten a copy of the keys to keep nearby, just in case that ever happened again.

Satisfied that everything was safe, Sam got down on her hands and knees and backed up into the cage, pulling the door closed behind her and securing the padlock with practiced ease, double checking that her cell phone and both sets of keys were within easy reach before pushing the padlock completely closed with a reassuring click. She took a moment to wiggle around, testing the limits of her space. It had taken her three cages before she found the perfect dimensions, each a little smaller than the last. In her current cage she was forced to keep her head and her shoulders low to the ground, her toes brushing the back of the cage and the top of her head an inch away from the door. She could just barely twist so that she was resting on one of her shoulders, a section of her back pressed against the side bars.

After the first year or two at the SGC, Sam had started to wonder if she’d lose the comfort and security that she got from being in a cage, something she’d never shared with any of her partners. It was telling, to her at least, that she’d never trusted any of them with this part of her. But, despite the years of being tossed into alien prisons and Goa’uld holding cells, her cages still offered that sense of contentment and protection that nothing else had ever quite come close to. Jack and Cameron were both bothered by being restrained, something that she’d only recently discovered about Cam but had known for years about Jack. Daniel didn’t seem to mind one way or the other, restless and pacing, but rarely with the undercurrent of fear that she’d seen in Cameron the last time they’d been held captive. Teal’c bore captivity with the same stoicism that he did pretty much everything else.

She’d stopped trying to analyze the urge years ago, willing to just let it be, as it always had. As a kid it had been the bottom of closets, under her bed, or under the side table in the corner of the living room. In college it had taken some curious reading to discover that other people shared this predilection for confinement and she’d accepted it as part of who she was. Nothing bad or weird, just part of the Sam Carter experience. It had to be tucked away for the most part during her years with the Air Force; postings on various bases hadn’t been conducive to finding elaborate ways to fulfill her desires. Only with the sense of permanency that the SGC provided did she feel comfortable enough to start building and experimenting.

Sam moved, arching her back and flexing the muscles in her thighs and calves to keep them from growing numb. She resettled on her other side, her shoulder length hair scattering over the smooth metal of the floor of the cage. It had taken until she’d made this cage to find a floor that she’d really liked. She’d gone with a floor with bars for her first cage, but found that it had dug too much into her knees and shoulders to be comfortable for long periods of time. The second floor had been a smooth, nearly soft material that had been spread out over a plank of wood that formed the base of the cage, but it had been too far in the other direction, preventing her from feeling all the way confined. At last she’d made the the bottom of this cage out of a polished solid metal that didn’t give at all but also warmed easily when pressed against her skin for any period of time.

Contentment washed over her and Sam closed her eyes. It was nearly impossible for her to get this level of peace anywhere else these days. Too much rested on her shoulders for her to be able to sleep easy at night, not that anyone who’d been on a ‘gate team for more than a couple of months slept well, and her days were packed from the time she woke up to the time she managed to rest with various problems that could potentially impact every human on Earth, and sometimes in the entire galaxy. But, locked in her cage she couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t her responsibility while she in this little space.

“Sam?”

Vala’s voice jerked Sam out of her near dozing state and she jerked up, nearly hitting her head on the bars that made up the top of the cage. “Vala?” Sam’s voice came out raspy as she craned her neck to look up to where Vala was standing in the doorway to her bedroom. She watched as Vala took in the situation, everything from Sam’s nudity to the keys and cellphone within easy reach of the cage.

Vala bit her lower lip thoughtfully as she entered the bedroom fully and knelt down next to Sam’s cage, her eyes traveling over Sam’s body in a way that was obviously appreciative. “I have to say I’m impressed. I never would have suspected this of you. Daniel perhaps. Or maybe that sweet boy who works in the control room.”

Sam forced herself to release the breath she'd taken when she’d seen Vala, still caught somewhere close to dizzying panic. “How did you get in here? Daniel wasn’t supposed to drop you off until one.”

“It’s past one,” Vala held out her wrist so that Sam could see her watch. “And I figured I’d just let myself in as it didn’t seem like you were home. Clearly I was mistaken.”

The lost time surprised Sam more than it should have. The settled space that she felt in her cages made it easy to misjudge the passage of time. Even though she never really fell asleep the prolonged period of enforced stillness did odd things; sometimes it felt like she’d been in there for an hour and it had only been ten minutes. Other times she’d be startled by her alarm clock letting her know she’d spent most of the night in her cage despite her intentions to only stay for an hour.

“Yeah. I’m here.” Sam felt the blush that burned across her face and reached for the keys outside the front of the cage.

At least, out of all the people that could have found her, Vala was the least damning. Sam could just imagine Cameron’s embarrassment and Daniel’s startled amusement. Teal’c probably wouldn’t have realized that she’d put herself in the cage and Sam could hardly imagine a more embarrassing situation than explaining kink and bondage to a Jaffa warrior.

Vala snagged the keys just before Sam could, dangling them from her deft fingers just out of Sam’s reach. “You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to.”

Sam blinked. Vala’s default setting seemed to be stuck on flirt, especially where Daniel was concerned, but this was a little more than flirting. Of course, to Sam, when at least one person was naked that automatically made it a little more than flirting. She glanced at the second set of keys and the cellphone that Vala hadn’t touched and knew that she was being offered a choice.

Vala waited with more patience than Sam would have believed that Vala possessed. Finally, Sam brought her hand back into the cage and lowered herself back to the ground. It was different having someone else there; all of Sam’s muscles were tense and she felt more like she was in one of the Goa’uld cells than in her own bedroom.

Smiling, Vala pocketed the keys, leaving the second set alone. She scooted closer so that she was next to Sam, ducking her head down to get a better look.

Sam pulled back the few inches that she could, her heart pounding worse than before. “This is a mistake, this isn’t going to work.” She fumbled for the set of keys that were still on the floor, banging her head against the bars when she moved without thinking.

“Shh, it’s okay. If you want out, I’ll let you out.” Vala reached into the cage and started to gently stroke Sam’s hair, making no attempt to take the keys from Sam’s outstretched hand.

Sam held still and let Vala pet her hair as she shook, all of her defenses lost to her. She put the keys back down and tucked her hand back against her body. Closing her eyes, Sam pressed her head a little closer to Vala’s hand.

“There we go,” Vala said soothingly. She moved her hand so that she was letting her fingers drift over Sam’s neck and shoulders as she went, keeping her touches light.

It took several deep breaths before Sam calmed down, resting her head on the floor as Vala maneuvered so that she was reaching through the side of the cage instead of the top.

Vala kept one of her hands on Sam’s head, brushing Sam’s hair with her fingers. “What do you need?” she asked.

Sam shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never…with anyone else before.”

“Then I’m honored,” Vala smiled. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of Sam’s head where it rested against the door of the cage.

Eventually Sam started to feel the sense of contentment wash back over her and her body relaxed completely.

“There we go,” Vala kissed her again and ran her hand along Sam’s arm. “You’re such a pleasure to look at like this. Nothing to hide behind.”

Sam felt herself blush again and refused to open her eyes even as she shifted closer to Vala’s touch.

Vala slid her hand down until she was resting it on Sam’s hip, watching Sam all the while. “I could stay here all day.”

Sam was vaguely surprised at Vala’s own ability to be still, to sit here with her and do nothing. It seemed that Vala always had a hard time remaining in one place for more than a few minutes, always had to be exploring something or causing mischief. If she’d know that this would settle Vala down she’d have invited Vala home far sooner.

The sound of the padlock on the door unlocking and being removed caused Sam to open her eyes, turning her head curiously to look at Vala. Somehow, during the time they’d been there, Vala had stopped being an odd intrusion and had started to feel right and even expected.

“Come on, you need to drink some water and move your legs.” Vala opened the door and backed away so that Sam could crawl out of the cage and lay out of the floor.

Sam grimaced as her legs cramped. She’d been in there way too long, far longer than she’d planned. She was flexible and small enough that her cage was fairly comfortable, as long as she remembered to move and stretch herself every so often.

Vala moved behind Sam and tugged Sam's shoulders up so that she was resting on Vala’s lap, her body laying out on the carpeted floor between Vala’s legs. “Don’t try to move too much at first.”

The comfort of Vala’s hands and the warmth of her legs surrounding her provided something that was very similar to a living, breathing cage and Sam relaxed into Vala’s grasp. After a bit Vala helped her sit up and held a cup of water that Sam had left on the nearby nightstand to Sam's lips. “I can do it,” Sam said, trying to take the cup from Vala.

“I know. But can you let me?” Vala asked.

Sam sighed but dropped her hands, letting Vala carefully tip the cup so Sam could take a sip. She nestled back so that she was sitting completely against Vala. Vala wrapped her arms around Sam, warmth and the soft sent of Vala’s lavender shampoo filling her senses.

“Daniel will be here in a while.” Vala mentioned after a little bit.

Sam paused, aware of what she wanted to do, but uncertain how it would be received. “Do you want to stay? Here?”

“Do you want me to?” Vala asked, her voice carefully blank of emotion.

Sam could only think of one way to answer. She squirmed in Vala’s arms until she was facing Vala, kissing her boldly on the lips. Sam felt Vala’s lips move into a smile as Vala returned the kiss with enthusiasm.

**Author's Note:**

> Can also be found on my Dreamwidth fandom journal: [Down Time on Dreamwidth](http://welfycat.dreamwidth.org/5131.html)


End file.
